Hakim-hakim 4:3

4:3 The Israelites cried out for help to the Lord, because Sisera ¹  had nine hundred chariots with iron-rimmed wheels, ²  and he cruelly ³  oppressed the Israelites for twenty years.

Hakim-hakim 6:6-10

6:6 Israel was so severely weakened by Midian that the Israelites cried out to the Lord for help.

6:7 When the Israelites cried out to the Lord for help because of Midian, 6:8 he ⁴  sent a prophet ⁵  to the Israelites. He said to them, “This is what the Lord God of Israel says: ‘I brought you up from Egypt ⁶  and took you out of that place of slavery. ⁷  6:9 I rescued you from Egypt’s power ⁸  and from the power of all who oppressed you. I drove them out before you and gave their land to you. 6:10 I said to you, “I am the Lord your God! Do not worship ⁹  the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are now living!” But you have disobeyed me.’” ¹⁰ 

Hakim-hakim 10:10-18

10:10 The Israelites cried out for help to the Lord: “We have sinned against you. We abandoned our God and worshiped ¹¹  the Baals.” 10:11 The Lord said to the Israelites, “Did I not deliver you from Egypt, the Amorites, the Ammonites, the Philistines, 10:12 the Sidonians, Amalek, and Midian ¹²  when they oppressed you? ¹³  You cried out for help to me, and I delivered you from their power. ¹⁴  10:13 But since you abandoned me and worshiped ¹⁵  other gods, I will not deliver you again. 10:14 Go and cry for help to the gods you have chosen! Let them deliver you from trouble!” ¹⁶  10:15 But the Israelites said to the Lord, “We have sinned. You do to us as you see fit, ¹⁷  but deliver us today!” ¹⁸  10:16 They threw away the foreign gods they owned ¹⁹  and worshiped ²⁰  the Lord. Finally the Lord grew tired of seeing Israel suffer so much. ²¹ 

An Outcast Becomes a General

10:17 The Ammonites assembled ²²  and camped in Gilead; the Israelites gathered together and camped in Mizpah. 10:18 The leaders ²³  of Gilead said to one another, “Who is willing to lead the charge ²⁴  against the Ammonites? He will become the leader of all who live in Gilead!”

[4:3]  ¹ tn Heb “he”; the referent (Sisera) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[4:3]  ² tn Regarding the translation “chariots with iron-rimmed wheels,” see Y. Yadin, The Art of Warfare in Biblical Lands, 255, and the article by R. Drews, “The ‘Chariots of Iron’ of Joshua and Judges,” JSOT 45 (1989): 15-23.

[4:3]  ³ tn Heb “with strength.”

[6:8]  ⁴ tn Heb “the Lord”; the proper name has been replaced by the pronoun (“he”) in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[6:8]  ⁵ tn Heb “a man, a prophet.” Hebrew idiom sometimes puts a generic term before a more specific designation.

[6:8]  ⁶ tc Some ancient witnesses read “from the land of Egypt.” מֵאֶרֶץ (me’erets, “from the land [of]”) could have been accidentally omitted by homoioarcton (note the following מִמִּצְרַיִם [mimmitsrayim, “from Egypt”]).

[6:8]  ⁷ tn Heb “of the house of slavery.”

[6:9]  ⁸ tn Heb “hand” (also a second time later in this verse).

[6:10]  ⁹ tn Heb “Do not fear.”

[6:10]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “you have not listened to my voice.”

[10:10]  ¹¹ tn Or “served”; or “followed.”

[10:12]  ¹² tc The translation follows the LXX which reads “Midian”; the Hebrew text has “Maon.”

[10:12]  ¹³ tn The words “Did I not deliver you” are interpretive. The Hebrew text simply reads, “Is it not from Egypt…when they oppressed you?” Perhaps the incomplete sentence reflects the Lord’s frustration.

[10:12]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “hand.”

[10:13]  ¹⁵ tn Or “served”; or “followed.”

[10:14]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “in your time of trouble.”

[10:15]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “according to all whatever is good in your eyes.”

[10:15]  ¹⁸ sn You do to us as you see fit, but deliver us today. The request seems contradictory, but it can be explained in one of two ways. They may be asking for relief from their enemies and direct discipline from God’s hand. Or they may mean, “In the future you can do whatever you like to us, but give us relief from what we’re suffering right now.”

[10:16]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “from their midst.”

[10:16]  ²⁰ tn Or “served”; or “followed.”

[10:16]  ²¹ tn Heb “And his spirit grew short [i.e., impatient] with the suffering of Israel.” The Hebrew noun נֶפֶשׁ (nefesh) also appears as the subject of the verb קָצַר (qatsar) in Num 21:4 (the Israelites grow impatient wandering in the wilderness), Judg 16:16 (Samson grows impatient with Delilah’s constant nagging), and Zech 11:8 (Zechariah grows impatient with the three negligent “shepherds”).

[10:17]  ²² tn Or “were summoned;” or “were mustered.”

[10:18]  ²³ tn Heb “the people, the officers.”

[10:18]  ²⁴ tn Heb “Who is the man who will begin fighting.”